Amid widespread unemployment and income loss suffered by businesses, top executives of big companies raised their own income by millions of pesos by in the form of bonuses and salary increases in 2020.

Six executives of GMA 7, inclu­ding Felipe Gozon and Gilberto Duavit, received ₱259 million in bonuses in 2020, 43% higher than what they received in 2019. This is on top of the 37% salary increase which they received during the same period.

Similarly, the salary of Manuel Pangilinan and four other officials of PLDT increased by 12%. The said company operates Smart Telecommunications. Its officers collectively received an additional P1 million in bonuses in 2020.

On the other hand, Globe Telecommunications head Ernest Cu and four other executives earned ₱295 million in salaries and bonuses in 2020 from ₱277 million in 2019.

Meanwhile, 17 billionaires were listed in the Forbes’ list of richest individuals in the world. They include Manuel Villar (352nd richest) who was recorded to have the highest net work in the country, followed by Enrique Razon, Lucio Tan, Andrew Tan, Sy siblings, Ramon Ang, Lance Gokongwei, Roberto Ongpin, Ricardo Po and Edgar Sia. Amazon chief Jeff Bezos remains the richest individual globally.